This Date Night is a textbook descent into ‘good concept, poor execution SNL skit-town’ and Mango is the mayor.
Quite the opening line, huh? I’m trying something new here – a quick tag line to give you the gist of it. What’s the extended gist? We have two of the funniest people on television right now in Steve Carell and Tina Fey. Am I sure they’re funny? You tell me: 7 Emmy’s and a Kids Choice Award…all on Tina’s mantle. No matter! These people are hilarious and just because Steve Carell doesn’t have any of the 8 awards Tina throws in his face every Red Carpet, he is still very funny. Unfortunately the number 8 also totals the number of jokes that hit in this movie.
The story certainly starts off promising enough with a couple of exhausted parents, Phil and Claire, trying to find the energy to do the no-pants polka. Like any married couple sometimes the signals can get crossed and you end up blindfolded getting a prostate check by the Poland Springs guy while your wife tries to find the right microSD card for the Nikon…. I’ve heard that can happen. Other times you forget about your partners feelings, their needs or your safe word and you can lose touch.
A scheduled date night looms and they decide to do it up Buxton-style and go into the city and eat at an authentically overpriced Manhattan restaurant. Of course, there are no tables and with their marriage showing cracks, they decide to take the reservation of another couple who seem not to have shown. As The Cars famously stated: Let the good times roll! That is until the local crime boss sends some thugs over to the restaurant to grab the people whom Phil and Claire are pretending to be. Shenanigans firmly established, the movie then rockets off into setup after setup – with some funny characters and amusing moments.
Considering the pedigrees of the stars in this film I was surprised at how tame it all seemed. I wondered if the script was brutal to begin with and they expected Fey and Carrel to Second City their way out of bad dialogue. Luckily, and this comment might bring down the entire internet – Mark Wahlberg saves the film.
Everyone still here? OK, good. I mean it. His shirtless badass is a breath of fresh air in this movie and about the only thing that rings true. His scenes with Phil and Claire are pretty funny and almost make the film. He oozes sexuality (my wife added that line – she edits me) and apparently fell into a vat of olive oil before each take. He is so shiny! He plays a very central and integral role and I wouldn’t want to spoil it much beyond what the trailer showed you.
This review has been hard for me. There are definitely some funny moments but in reading back my review it seems like I didn’t like it at all. I think I just had overly high expectations for them teaming up. Kind of like the movie Heat with Pacino and De Niro. I couldn’t wait for them to share a screen and when they did I was left unfulfilled.
Will you laugh? Yes. Are there some memorable moments? Yes. Highlights include any scene with Mark Wahlberg, the strip club absurdity and the blooper enhanced credits. It’s just OK and I say that from a place of love. 2 stars.
